Spicy Soup (Crockpot or Stove Top)
Contributed by Diane S.

1      pound         ground beef
4      medium        carrots -- scraped and cubed
4      cups          potatoes -- peeled and cubed
1      small         onion -- chopped
3      8 oz cans     tomato sauce
4      cups          water
2      teaspoons     salt
1 1/2  teaspoons     pepper
1/2  - 1 teaspoon  hot pepper sauce

I use 5 carrots.  It normally takes 7 medium sized potatoes to make 4
cups.

CROCKPOT: Put hamburger in crock and place in microwave and cook on
full power for about 4 minutes.  Take crock out and mash up hamburger
with potato masher (the old fashioned kind, not the newer round kind);
put back in microwave and nuke for another 4 minutes, take out and
repeat mashing process; return to microwave for another 2 minutes.  I
used hamburger that was 90% lean so there was really no fat to drain
off.  Put crock into the crockpot.  Add carrots and potatoes.  Put
some of the water from the 4 cups in the blender and put the onion in
there and chop it up; pour into crockpot.  Pour in tomato sauce; use
some of the remaining 4 cups of water to rinse out the cans and pour
into soup.  Add salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce (I used 1 teaspoon
of Louisiana Hot Sauce).  Stir well.  Turn crockpot on high and cook
for about 3 hours on high.  Reduce setting to low and cook for another
5 hours.  Stir the soup often.  IT IS WONDERFUL WITH CORNBREAD AND A
GLASS OF MILK.

TOP OF STOVE: In a Dutch oven or large kettle, brown ground beef.
Drain.  Add potatoes, carrots, onion and tomato sauce.  Stir in water,
salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and
simmer for 1 hour (Barbara said she let it cook for more than 1 hour)
or until the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened.

YIELD:  6-8 servings  --  2 quarts